Calypso's new home for the rainy months

With the approach of the wet season and its prophesied seasonal storms, we'd finally been given the go ahead to move our girl into the Kartini Harbour in Jepara where she will be protected from the worst of the winds and given better holding than our one anchor can offer.

Saturday morning was moving day and we knew we'd have to clear two months worth of growth from our props and anchor chain.  Harry, a South African chap here on contract to the power plant, offered to help and help he surely did.  The poor chap sat out on the bowsprit, a most uncomfortable perch, and proceeded to scrape away more growth than we have ever seen attached to the chain.  We have, on several occasions, stayed in a single anchorage for many many months but have never experienced such heavy growth and this just after two months.

While Harry battled away with the chain, Paul dived down to clean the prop and water inlets and I had a much easier job just getting things ready to remove.  When it came time to lift the final few metres of chain, we tried to motor forward but simply did not move.  I was convinced we had grown to the bottom.  We were just about to drop anchor again when I noticed slight movement so, at full revs we tried again.  Well, with a bit of imagination, we could just see some progress so we persevered some more.  It was only 2.4nm to the harbour and it took us more than 3/4 of that distance to get up to a speed of 2 knots.  There's definitely advantages to having a clean bottom.

En route we managed to touch bottom (the charts aren't particularly accurate around this part of the world) but as we were moving so slowly, it wasn't serious and we simply backed up to take a wider route to the harbour.

A wonderful reception committee awaited us as we arrived; Rob, Peter, Harry and Rere and Fidoli from the factory, so there was no shortage of helping hands to bring us in.  They also had a pickup truck to help move some of the bigger items off as we want to remove anything and everything that we can.

Calypso is now safely tied up to the concrete pier and, if the huge ferry stays where it is, she'll be given protection from the winds during bad storms.  We hear the ferry doesn't go out in stormy weather so we're holding thumbs.  She's been a bit of a novelty since our arrival and now even more so tied up in the harbour.  Yachts aren't a common sight right here and we miss seeing her lying at anchor outside our little home.  The view is definitely missing something but we feel much relieved to have her finally tied up and safe.

Great news for yachties in Indonesia

Indonesia has a new president, Joko Widodo who, for the yachting fraternity, seems to be getting all his ducks In a row.  A newspaper article published the other day stated, quote "the government will expedite permitting for yachts wanting to enter the country's ports, from taking weeks to taking one day only, with an online one-stop service protocol ...... The government is also planning to lengthen the time yacht permits would remain valid from a period of six months to a whole year of multiple entries." unquote.

For any yacht planning to travel through Indonesia, this is excellent news.  Currently, the red tape is a nightmare, a costly frustrating series of bureaucracy that is a major deterrent when one compares the simplicity in entering neighbouring Malaysia.  No wonder Malaysia has abundant marinas whereas Indonesia has barely any.

So, yes, this is indeed very welcoming news.  We have been pulled through the mill and back again trying to extend both our personal visas and the CAIT form for our boat which must be done on a monthly basis.  Now, let's wait to see how long it takes prior to its implementation.  Knowing our luck, it'll probably only come into affect the moment we move on but it certainly augurs well for the future.

The weather she is a-changing

Looking out our front door

Australia is having record high temperatures for this time of the year, North America is having record lows and we're having our first rains in many many months.  Now that the rainy season has decided to come, it seems to be making up for lost time.  And this is just the beginning!

Needless to say, despite all the rain over the past couple of days, the old gardener here is still out there first thing in the morning, faithfully watering the already water logged plants and lawns.  I guess he's been doing this for so many years that a little (or even a lot) of rain isn't going to alter his routine.  His job is to water so he'll damn well water.

Our little house isn't without its water problems either.  We have a leaky roof.  No problem, we asked them to replace the corrugated fibre-glass sheeting in the roof of the kitchen as there was a tiny leak and it was so old and dirty that the kitchen was very very dark.  They addressed this most promptly.  Now we have a very bright kitchen with many leaks!  Besides that, a shower has been installed right inside our front door; no need to go into the bathroom.  The only proviso is that it has to be raining when one wants to use said shower.  However, when one considers that it's rarely under 30°C here, it's not exactly a discomfort when wet.

We've been waiting to put dear Calypso into the Jepara Harbour prior to this change of season as, when it gets fully into it there are, apparently, abundant storms which bring high winds and severe squalls.  When we finally thought we were ready with the necessary protective devices, the Harbour Master, who had said numerous times, "bring her in now" has just informed us that we can't move in yet as they're busy doing some repairs to the pier where the ferry lies right next to our allocated spot.  So again we wait and pray that the squalls hold off until we're settled.

On the positive side, all this rain clears the murky, sawdust laden air and brings relief from the oppressive heat and fortunately we're not in the typhoon zone which is a blessing.